Upward momentum in the European hot-rolled coil market has faded amid weak demand and elevated inventories, with prices largely holding steady, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday April 28.
For July delivery, some mills were indicating higher offers, but overall, the market was quiet, with both buyers and sellers holding back.
In Germany, offers were heard around €730-750 ($856-879) per tonne base delivered (€715-735 per tonne ex-works) for July-delivery coil.
One source said that one European mill was aiming for a higher price of €770 per tonne delivered for July, which would net back to €755 per tonne ex-works, but claimed that such an offer was “far away from the market reality.”
Buyers, however, were mainly indicating achievable prices at no higher than €700-710 per tonne ex-works on Tuesday. Some sources suggested prices below €700 per tonne ex-works could still be achieved for bigger tonnages.
“Demand situation is very dramatic at the moment; the level of stocks is high and it is going down very slowly, so there is no need to restock,” a steel service center in Europe said.
“Mills hope to consolidate offers of €750 per tonne delivered and higher for July, but it’s going to be difficult. Demand is not supporting any increase, stocks are high, there is still plenty of imports in the market, there is no shortage of coil,” a buyer in Germany said.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was assessed at €705.63 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €2.70 per tonne from €708.33 per tonne on Monday April 27.
The index was down by €2.37 per tonne week on week and down by €11.87 per tonne month on month.
Prices have recovered by over €100 euro per tonne over the past six months. Notably, Fastmarkets’ Northern Europe HRC index averaged €708.05 per tonne at the midpoint in March 2026, compared with a monthly average of €589.40 in October 2025.
Overall, sources agree that the shifting regulatory framework — particularly the new trade policy coming into force in July, as well as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) — has been fueling the recent uptrend. But for the time being, domestic HRC prices appear to have reached a ceiling.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €700 per tonne ex-works on April 28, unchanged from the previous day.
The index was stable week on week but up by €2.50 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, local seller still had June-delivery coil available, with offers heard at €720 per tonne delivered (around €705 per tonne ex-works).
Buyers reported lower tradeable values around €690-700 per tonne ex-works.
Trading in the spot market remained slow, with local sources also reporting holding sufficient stocks and also waiting for quotas information for a new trade regime.
Meanwhile, new import HRC offers to Europe remained limited. Buyers are holding back ahead of revised safeguard quotas from the European Commission, effective July 1, with uncertainty over the regime and potential costs from CBAM weighing on demand, while Middle East-related disruptions and higher freight rates continue to restrict Asian import offers.
Sources reported Indian HRC available at €600-605 per tonne CFR, CBAM not paid, in Italy. Shipment was May-June.
The most recent offers for Turkish HRC were heard at €620-630 per tonne CFR Italy, including the anti-dumping duty but excluding CBAM costs. Latest reported sales were heard in the second half of April at €590 per tonne CFR from one seller for a big tonnage with lead times in July. Another cargo was booked around €620-625 per tonne CFR from another seller.
